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Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable Sedans Pre-2008
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So rumors were new Sable will be based on Mazda 6. Previously they said it would be Mondeo what is a better platform, but Mazda 6 is also okay for me, it probably is less expensive platform than Mondeo, but a little bigger and in American style. I don't want Sable to be another Passat clone like Mondeo or Altima.
I still maintain, that for a mainstream midsize car with at least decent performance when equipped with the Duratec, current Taurus is hard to beat. Name another brand, domestic or import. where you can get a 200 HP DOHC V-6 family size car pretty well equipped new for under $20K out the door? Not from Toyota, not from Nissan, not from GM, maybe from DC and of course yes from the Koreans.
I will agree that Ford could stand to go upscale with the Mercury brand perhaps using European Ford designs to delineate it from Ford brand in the US, but you gotta remember the bulk of the consumers still aren't going to be able to pay $30K for a car.
Upsetter1, what is wrong with the current Taurus/Sable interior that needs revising? Gimmicky white gauges with orange/red contrasting lights? Or fake brushed aluminum/platinum trim, fake wood accents etc? Isn't the plastic plush enough for you? You want "gathered" fabric inserts on the doors-the rolling bordello look? Gotta have NAV system because you can't read a map or road signs? I prefer a no nonsense but functional interior, and Taurus Sable has that with no squeaks or rattles in mine even on the roughest roads.
The car has 20k miles it is driven to the train station daily, about 4 miles each way.
It has never been driven hard, yet when we took our car to the dealer Thursday they told us there were some serious problems with our car. They offered a free loaner but were not too clear in explaining what was wrong with the car. All they say that it is a good thing that the warranty still applies, and if we had to pay for the repairs that it would cost in excess of $3000.
The car has always run well except when the engine light was on,then the car ran rough as if the engine needed a major tune-up and in one occasion it actually shut off.
Has anyone experienced similar problems.I almost get the feeling that I must rid myself of this vehicle once it is returned to us.
thanks for any information.
I priced it out on the Ford website at about $27,000 fully loaded (except rear spoiler).
Then I went to CarsDirect.com and after the $2000 rebate, and regional discounts that gave credit toward free moonroof and free leather, it priced out at just under $21K plus tax. That's Hyundai Sonata cheap!
If I were to buy one, I would go for the best PremiumCare Ford factory 6 year/100,000 extended warranty with $0 deductible. That would add somewhere around another $2000 to the price. $23,000 still looks decent for a fully loaded car with leather, moonroof, Mach stereo, power everything and no repair cost worries for 6 years etc..
Too bad that it will only be worth $10,000 after 3 years.
Haven't had problems in mine so far. Can anyone else comment on the potential problems facing low mileage drivers? Also, how does this affect service intervals? My gut reaction was to replace the fuel filter, PCV/breather gasket, possibly even flush and fill transmission and coolant at the 15K service, but the dealer said this is all driven by mileage, not time. they assured me I don't need to do these, but I'm doubtful. It will be four + years before I hit 30K, so I suspect I'll do the transmission flush before that -- anyone have insight into this? Am I wasting my money? I do oil changes about 4-5 times a year, going on time and or season versus mileage.
Goal is to keep this thing about 11-12 years and live without a payment for a while, just hoping the low miles don't actually hurt me somehow!! Do have a 6 year warranty but that only takes me halfway!
I baught the car for $1150 CND, I got a lemon? You betcha. It's been in a front end collision, but I don't see any frame damage/repairs from it, must have just been a crumple. Anyways, anyone know about this car? Should I be expecting my AXOD to die? Or my head gasket to blow? How do I tell if they've been repaired? Anything else I should be concerned about? IE: Fuel Filter. (113500KM)
Ok, thanks for any feed back.
So far, I think the Sable RULES!
All I was trying to illustrate in the earlier e-mail is that the car is well maintained and not driven hard. Yet we had this problem which I will have explained to me once the car is fixed.
Believe I need to know what happened to our car.
I believe their were some less than reliable transmissions introduced in 1991 when they went to electronic controls. My neighbor had one go at slightly over 100,000 miles-traded it rather than repaired. My 1990 was fine. I sold it to a private party at 10 years and 98,000 miles. Had transmission fluid and filter changed once at 70,000 and fluid was not burnt and transmission had no problems.
A fair amount of the 3.8 liter V-6's had head gasket failures, but if your Sable has the Vulcan 3.0 V-6, I believe it is a pretty reliable engine.
Since you likely do not know the service history, a transmission fluid change, plugs, new fuel filter and cooling system flush and fill are probably a good idea, along with inspection of hoses, belts, CV joint boots and suspension. Tie rod ends were a typical weak point but not too expensive.
I have the 3.8L ;o( So worry I must.
Alright, I'll change my plugs for sure, and flush fluids. Have you seen the Bosch plugs with 4 prongs? I'm thinking about those, but I have no idea what the best is. Anyone have ideas?
Happy motoring and keep enjoying your cars!
MPG: that depends on what your driving habits are. I kinda have a heavy foot so I get below what the sticker says you should get. I get about 15mpg in the city but I can get as much as 28mpg on the highway.
Mike
The other day I beat rice driver on the menacing low riding Civic at traffic lite. He tried hard with a lot of noice and expression on his face but couldn't make, I was relaxed as usual and even didn't try to kick it down. If I kicked it down his little car would suck into vacuum behind my car I guess and it wasn't yet SHO. Wow!
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/24/automobiles/24AUTO.html?ex=1039258560&ei=1&en=7becbbb6183dee4d
Give me Edmunds or even CR reviews any time over this crap.
Taurus held up well in Edmund's rankings, done on 2000 model sedans (please refer to that area in Edmunds and check it out). Edmunds did not view Camry at that time. Taurus finished third in Edmund's point ranking system basis just slightly behind Passat and nearly tied for second with last gen Accord. Edmunds point ranking you will note, includes price/value as a ranking factor, while CR does not.
I am sure with any new reviews by CR, Taurus will end up behind three or four others, but that does not mean it is a bad choice, especially if you include cost as a factor.
As with all published reviews and rankings, they all have to be taken with a grain of salt and the individual will have to decide.
What really bothers me is when people dismiss a vehicle by blindly following one review, be it CR, Edmunds or heaven forbid, the NY Times. Or people who dismiss a car because it has a "rental car stigma". So what if Taurus is used in many fleet and rental car applications? The more Tauri sold, the lower the margin they can afford to sell them at and it benefits the individual buyer as well as the fleet buyer. Yes, this strategy also causes more depreciation, but anyone buying a car as an investment strategy is insane anyway. Buy new and keep it many years, or buy slightly used and keep it many years and do even better on a cost basis. This is the only way to minimize depreciation costs on any vehicle.
i believe the taurus (above average) is actually rated better than the camry (average) in terms of reliability. what i liked about the NY Times piece was where it placed the camry. CR is the only magazine that rates the camry as high as it does.
Toyota now has 0% ads called "saved by 0". They were always bragging how they "don't need incentives". Now what is the excuse? They act like they "invented" 0%.
I like the one post about the guy's co-worker bragging about his new $30K Camry, with extended warranty. (If it's so bullet proof, why warranty?) "So am I supposed to kiss yer behind", I'd say.
Also, go to any rental lot and count the Camries, then tell the "know it alls" how many there are when they say "You got a rental car?"
He has '97 Camry with 60,000 miles and had multiple problems with it, like - failed and changed under basic warranty power steering, warping rotors, $800 AMF sensor related failure repair under extended warranty and some others. Recently he noticed blue smoke coming out of exhaust and get done engine repair that was covered under Toyota sludge problem warranty and otherwise would cost him several grands. So he believes that extended warranty worth it, he saved thousands having extended warranty on previoud Camry. BTW he didn't have any problems with his old '92 Ford Tempo (with no warranty at all because bought used), currently at 200,000 miles and still running strong. But he bought a new luxury Camry XLE because he likes the quality and smoothness of powertrain.
I have a 99 taurus with the same deal...the manual says it has like a 16 gallon tank or something but I the most I have ever filled it is about 13.75 gallons.....usually by the time I have rode on E for about 40 miles I still can only fill it 13.5 gallons......makes for crappy long distance touring range between fills.
Had sworn NEVER to buy a new car but having not found what I wanted in a used Sable, I investigated buying a model-end car and wound up with an LS wagon with all the extras. Intend on driving it for five - six years, anyway, averaging 30K miles per year.
Will look forward to reading others' maintenance ideas and experiences.
#1 of 2 Taurus fuel filling problems by ijennings1 Dec 05, 2002 (1:06 pm)
I have a 2000 SES with an 18 gallon tank according to the book. Even with the guage on empty, I can't get more than 12 gallons in her even when filling really slow. The gauge then shows full. I understand Ford have a reserve tank when the guage reaches empty, but even so, there does seem something wrong here. I'm getting around 300 miles per tank before the gauge reaches empty. Can anyone help? thanks
Ian
One post suggested driving until you run out and then putting a measured amount in to check the true amount, but that's not wise because the gas is under pressure and the fuel pump is running and heating up because it has no gas to keep it cool. (The manual also frowns on this practice.)
This same annoying feature was on my 1984 Mustang. It drove me nuts! After driving that car for 16 years I thought that I'd finally get a functional gauge - WRONG! What's the reason behind this?
The annual "best seller" often is a best seller by product name only. For example, the Honda Accord was the best-selling mid-size car in 2001, with sales of 414,718 cars, according to Automotive News Data. The Toyota Camry came in second, with sales of 390,449, and the Ford Taurus came in third, with sales of 353,560. The Sable finished out of the running, with sales of 102,646.
But those numbers are misleading because they are based on nameplates, not vehicle platforms. There is only ONE Accord brand and ONE Camry brand. But Ford sells the same cars (Taurus and Sable) under TWO different names. Combined Taurus and Sable sales last year totaled 456,206, EASILY surpassing the "leader", the Accord.
The point is that most of the public aren't idiots and they recognize a good value when they see one. Both of these models have been selling very well since their introduction in 1986. The reason for their continued success is "perceived value". Enough said.
Of course the Honda and Toyota zealots will also point out that a lot of Taurus/Sable sales are fleet/rentals, but so what? Just because Ford has elected to attack that market doesn't mean the cars are somehow "tainted"
On the fuel gage problem a few of you are having, why not get it checked by the dealer, especially if you are still under warranty? I do not have that problem on my 2000 SES.
Soon, they can't use the "Mines not a rental" claim any longer.
to use the car to move a dining set.